“Do your best, little girl.” He picked up a sword from the ground. “I’ll try to make your death fast.”
My heart threatened to beat free as we circled each other. I watched his face, ready for him to make the first move.
He lunged with a yell that raised the hair on my arms. His weapon whooshed through the air.
I ducked and jabbed at his gut, missing, then dropped and rolled out of the way. Leaping to my feet, I swung my sword.
Cheers rose from one side of the ring, cries of encouragement from the other.
“You go, Crynn!” Jolt yelled.
Not wanting to be distracted, I blocked out all sound other than my breathing and the clanking of our swords as they collided. The contact vibrated up my arms.
Lloyd stood a full head taller and weighed at least eighty pounds more. Survival would be a miracle for me.
His sword skimmed across my mid-section. I hissed and jabbed with my knife, catching him in the upper thigh. Surprise flickered across his face.
“Didn’t expect me to draw blood, did you?” I swung my sword over my head.
“Not really.” He blocked my swing.
I shot out my leg, tripping him.
He stumbled, but stayed on his feet. His next swing grazed deeper across my ribcage.
I dropped to my knees, striking upward with my sword and slicing through his bicep. He dropped his sword.
Cursing, he moved a few feet away from me, a murderous look in his eyes. He roared and charged.
I rolled out of the way, coming to my feet in one smooth move, sweeping his leg.
He dropped.
I straddled him, my sword at his throat. “It’s done.” My breath came in gasps.
“Finish him, Miss Dayholt,” Jenkins ordered.
I met the resigned gaze of Lloyd, then stepped back, lowering my weapon. “I will not kill him. If we are to fight Soriah, we need every fighter we have.” I held out my hand to the fallen man. Blood dripped from my fingers from a cut on my arm I hadn’t realized I’d gotten.
Lloyd nodded and accepted my help. “You are a worthy opponent, Miss Dayholt.” He bowed.
Together, we faced Jenkins. I prayed my refusing to kill Lloyd wouldn’t have dire consequences for my group who now joined us in the ring.
Jenkins shook his head. “You have a point, Little One. I welcome you and yours into our community. Seek medical attention. Tomorrow, you’ll all be assigned tasks. No one gets a free ride in Rebel City.” He turned and marched away.
“You’ve got guts,” Lloyd said. “Refusing to follow a direct order usually results in death.”
“Until he welcomed us in, we weren’t citizens. We didn’t have to follow his orders.”
“Come on.” Kira took me by the arm. “I know where the medical building is.”
“One minute.” I turned to face Fawke, handing him his knife.
He grinned. “You never cease to amaze me.” His gaze caressed my face. “You were wonderful.”
Now that the adrenaline started to wear off, my limbs trembled, and my cuts felt on fire. “I wasn’t so sure a few times.” I swayed.
Fawke scooped me into his arms. “Lead the way, Kira. Our little bird needs tending to.”
She took my sword from my hand and headed to a small building at the end of the path. Inside, an older woman rolled bandages. Lloyd received treatment opposite the door from another woman.
“Put her here.” She motioned to a wooden table. “We’ll have her back to normal in no time.” She pulled a curtain hung from the ceiling across, blocking me from the others, then started to remove my clothing. “These things have seen better days, young lady. We’ll get you something clean to wear and have these washed and repaired.”
“Thank you. These rags are a part of me. I don’t want to let them go.” I sucked in a deep breath as she poured something foul over the cut on my arm.
“This will need stitching. Same with one of the cuts on your mid-section. You’re a lucky young lady. The man you fought will require more stitches.” She smiled.
A feeling of pleasure washed over me. I might not have drawn first blood, but it sounded as if I’d caused Lloyd to spill more. I closed my eyes and did my best to relax, biting my lip against the pain of the woman’s ministrations.
When she’d finished, she handed me a carved wooden cup. “Drink this.”
“What is it?”
“Homemade liquor. It’ll burn a hole through metal, but it’ll numb your pain.”
I wrinkled my nose and took a sip, gasping as it burned its way down my throat.
“All of it.”
I pinched my nose and upended the cup. Dizziness and numbness washed over me.
The curtain was pulled back and Fawke stood at my side. “Looks like I’ll be carrying you back to the hut.”
“Yesh.” My tongue felt two sizes larger. “I like when you carry me.”
He laughed. “That makes two of us.” He picked me up and carried me to my new home.
Inside, he lay me gently on the mattress and sat next to me. “I guess you’re no longer my assignment.”
“Told you so.”
He cupped my face. “I liked watching over you.”
“What will you do now?” I could barely keep my eyes open. “Stay or go?”
“Sweetheart, assignment or not, I’m staying with you.”
I smiled and closed my eyes.
22
The next morning, a young girl appeared at our shack letting us know that Jenkins wanted to give us our job assignments. I groaned and climbed out of bed, every movement pulling against my stitches.
“I’ll help you.” Lloyd waited outside, putting his arm around me. “Take tiny steps.”
“I appreciate your help, but you’re wounded, too.”
“These scars make me proud. It
